Planning Commissioners' Procedures Manual - Hamilton County, Ohio

RPC/RZC
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
DATA CENTER NEWSLETTERS
A series fo periodic newsletters devoted to the dissemination of timely information about the
communities of Hamilton County, Ohio. A total of five Data Center Newsletters have been
published. Previous topics include: agricultural land use, building permit trends, census
population estimates, trends in assessed valuation of property and land use distribution in
Hamilton County. Upcoming newsletters will address Census 2000 and economic activity in
Hamilton County and the surrounding CMSA counties.
THE COUNTYWIDE COMPREHENSIVE PLAN
In 1964 THE Hamilton County Regional Planning Commission adopted the Hamilton County
Master Plan. The Master Plan contained several background chapters as well as chapters on a
land use plan, zoning to implement the plan, a motorway plan, an open space plan and a public
library plan. In 1967 the Comprehensive Storm Drainage and Open Space Plan was developed.
During the 1970’s several elements of the 1964 Master plan were updated. These updates
included the commercial-industrial element, the housing element, environmental/hillside
development element, storm drainage element and sanitary sewer element. Since these
updates, planning has shifted away from comprehensive planning by the Regional Planning
Commission to individual agency master plans (QUEST Plan—1994 for MSD, Water Distribution
System Master Plan—1999 for CWW). The Thoroughfare Plan (1993) was the only element of
the County Master Plan updated in the 1980’s and 1990’s.
In July Steve Johns, AICP was hired as a community planner to coordinate an update of the
County Master Plan. As part of this effort other county plans from around the nation were
collected and analyzed. In the fall, several brainstorming sessions were held with various
segments of the community to identify the purposes and outcomes of a countywide plan for
Hamilton County. The knowledge gained from the review of plans and the brainstorming session
evolved into a detailed outline for the countywide plan. The background elements of this outline
were started in late 1999 and continue to be a high priority for the RPC staff.
A scope of work has been developed for the countywide plan. The first elements of this scope of
work include two levels of background analysis. In the first level, RPC staff will examine fifteen
external influences that will likely shape the county in the next twenty years. RPC staff with the
assistance of Michael Gallis & Associates will develop an internal assessment as the second
level of background analysis. After the completion of the background studies, a community
dialogue will be developed using focus groups, forums and survey questionnaires. The results
from this dialogue will be used to develop goals and subgoals for Hamilton County. The process
will conclude with the completion of an implementation plan of the action strategies needed to
reach the county’s goals. RPC will then monitor the progress toward these goals.
Page 21